Charley Harper dress

I wore this to a benefit dinner in Philadelphia, and it was actually warm enough that I didn't need tights. The dress (technically a nightgown) seems to be directly influenced by Charley Harper, one of my favorite artists, so of course I couldn't resist buying it.

I'm without footwear because I have a no shoe policy in my apartment. I originally wore this with boots, and would've photographed it in Philly but I was too busy dealing with technical computer problems to photograph anything (argh.)

Forever 21 blazer

Anthropologie nightgown worn as dress

Honey Oatmeal Bread

I attempted to take full advantage of my parents’ kitchen whilst in Philadelphia (it is probably 8x the size of mine,) and opted to try my hand at bread. My sister suggested a Honey Oatmeal Bread from the (hilarious) cookbook Breaking Bread with Father Dominic. Excellent suggestion, Katie.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

Yields 2 loaves

• 1 cup instant oats, uncooked
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg, beaten (optional)
• About 5 cups whole wheat flour
• Additional instant oats, for coating

1. Put the oats in a large bowl. Bring 2 cups hot water to a boil, pour over the oats and let stand for at least 20 minutes

2. Sprinkle yeast over ¼ cup warm water in a small bowl, stir to mix. Let stand 5 minutes to dissolve.

3. Feel the oats at the bottom of the bowl to be sure they’re lukewarm. Add honey, butter, salt and yeast mixture. For an extra-rich dough, add egg (I did, and the dough was excellent.) Mix well. Work in enough of the flour so the dough can be handled, but the dough should remain pretty sticky because of the honey.

4. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Knead until dough is elastic but still rather sticky, adding flour as needed; don’t add too much flour at a time.

5. Place dough in a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

6. Punch down dough and divide into two equal pieces. Knead out any air bubbles, but don’t use flour on the kneading surface; you want the dough to remain sticky.

7. Form each piece into a loaf. Roll each loaf in additional oats until completely covered. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise about 30 minutes, or until doubled.

8. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake loaves about 45 minutes, or until they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on wire racks.

Bedazzled folk art chickens enjoying a snack..

(New) Vintage dress

I recently received this awesome vintage dress from lovely Etsy seller TapouillonVintage. It came all the way from Saint Tropez (!), and I'm more than happy with it. I wore one of my berets to match.

H&M knit beret

Paul Masner-Paris vintage dress

Thrifted belt

Target loafers

Phillies

I was in Philadelphia for the past week, and Phillies fever was everywhere. We're going to the world series!

American Eagle men's flannel shirt

American Apparel leggings

Diba boots

New Scarf

I own many scarves, but had yet to get a gray one. I found the perfect scarf for only $5 from a street vendor on 5th Ave

As Tyra says, "Smize"

Gray scarf from NYC street vendor

Vintage dress from Topshop Vintage UK

Topshop belt

Target ballet flats

Some days you wanna be Audrey

I wore this out to dinner.

I don't know why I look so sad. Whoops.

American Apparel top

Zara pants

Target ballet flats

Vintage pearl necklace

The Met

Today I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Robert Frank photography exhibit, which was excellent. It was FREEZING outside and I regret not wearing warmer layers, but it was raining and thus a trench was required.

Gap red trench coat

Anthropologie sweater

Gap button up shirt

Uniqlo brown corduroy pants

Minnetonka Moccasins

Watch from flea market

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin seed pirates! (Whoever said not to play with your food should rethink their stance.)

I have too much time on my hands

I originally found this tasty recipe from smittenkitchen.com, and have tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes (I’m a big fan of the butternut). This seems like a great base, on top of which you can add any type of squash. I used a pumpkin I had gotten in upstate NY to add a (very) fresh pumpkin taste and to make a pumpkin seed garnish. It’s time- consuming to get the innards and seeds out of a pumpkin, but you get to carve it afterwards, so it’s all worth it!

Black Bean Pumpkin (and squash) Soup:

Yields about 10 cups

• One 15 ½ oz can black beans (the recipe at smittenkitchen calls for three, but I wanted my soup heavy on the squash)
• 1 cup drained canned tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion
• ½ cup minced shallot
• 4 garlic cloves minced (to ward off those pesky vampires)
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (more to taste)
• ½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• One package of fresh pre-cut squash or one 16oz can of squash
• 4 cups beef broth (I used veggie broth because I rarely, if ever, eat anything with meat in it. You could conceivably use any broth you’d like)
• A 16 oz can of pumpkin puree (1 ½ cups) à here I used pumpkin from the one I had already carved out

**Smittenkitchen’s version calls for ½ pound cooked ham, which I did not add. It also calls for Sherry and Sherry vinegar, which I also omitted. Check out the original recipe here if you’re more adventurous than I.**

1. Cook pumpkin seeds in whatever manner you’re used to (I just throw them on a greased cookie sheet with a ton of salt and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.)

2. Cook squash in boiling water until tender.

3. In a food processor or blender puree beans and tomatoes; set aside. If you’re using fresh pumpkin, puree and add to bean mixture. Once squash is done cooking, puree it in a blender and set aside.

4. In a large pot or kettle, cook onion, shallot, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring until the onion is softened and starting to brown.

4 1/2. Stir in bean puree, pumpkin, squash, and broth until combined and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

5. Ladle soup into bowl(s). Garnish with pumpkin seeds, diced apples, and/or pistachios (the pistachios worked perfectly with the soup, an idea I got from a vendor at the local Greenmarket). Season with salt & pepper.

Enjoy!

Apple Picking (or not)

My parents and I took a trip upstate to Hudson, NY to check out Olana,

painter Frederic Church's home. We had planned to go apple and pumpkin picking but the weather had other ideas (it snowed. In October. Ridiculous.) I attempted to match my clothes to the fall foliage.

I did manage to buy a pumpkin from a local farm. A great Black Bean Pumpkin soup recipe is forthcoming.

I also scored some bags of pre-picked Stayman/Winesap apples (they're surprisingly difficult to find.)

Burberry trench coat

Vintage red cashmere sweater from my Mom's closet

American Eagle plaid button up

H&M black tank top

Urban Outfitters jeans

American Eagle rain boots

Pink & White

Errand running.

Better view of necklace..

Click photo for larger image

The picture/light quality is still pretty bad, but once I'm done redecorating it'll hopefully look better..

Vintage pink shirt from my Mom's closet

Anthropologie dress

Vintage faux pearl necklace

H&M polka dot knee socks

Diba boots

First Post

I got together with my immediate family for a meeting and lunch in Midtown and had to get dressed up (yay!)

Another view of the dress

Purse

Sorry the lighting is off, but the weather

has been overcast. Better photos soon (?)

H&M blue dress

Red scarf from NY street vendor

Thrifted belt

DKNY tights

Anthropologie purse